Technical Preview: Mexico ePrix

TECH TALK

Posted on: 29 March, 2017

Passioneers, we are off to Mexico City for the fourth race of the season. At the inaugural Mexico ePrix last season, we bagged two top-ten finishes and we are eager to build on that experience. Just before the action, Chief Engineer and Passioneer Vinit Patel talks about the challenges and race conditions for this weekend.

Let’s hear him speak.

We'll be putting our experience and knowledge from last year to good use at this weekend's Mexico City ePrix.

The race is two laps longer this year, which makes the energy race a lot harder. Last year was very eventful with a lot of dicing for the lead of the race. That is less likely to happen this year. In terms of racing on the track, new barriers have been put in place to make the chicanes harder to cut and turn one has been modified. The harder energy target also means that it's more likely to be a strategic race than an out-and-out dogfight.

The circuit itself is a hard challenge for the drivers, although it looks relatively simpler when drawn on a map. The drivers have to work quite hard on this circuit as there's a lot of steering input and it’s very bumpy in the infield section. Many had pain in their upper body and shoulders at the end of last year's race.

The daytime temperature in Mexico City will be similar to Buenos Aires. So, it will be relatively cool overnight and in the morning. The high altitude will neutralise any benefits from the cooler temperatures.

We expect battery temperatures to be similar to Buenos Aires and Marrakesh and we're going to be pushing it to the limit. This will be an issue for everyone on the grid so we need to understand where and when the limitations are and use those to more advantage than the competitors.

Buemi and Renault are an exceptionally strong package at the moment. Abt had a slower start to the season but recently have shown that they can recover the season. Dragon were also very strong last year, and Mexico could be where they pick up their performance. We're very much in the mix with them as well as Sam Bird, who on his strong day is very quick in the DS Virgin racecar.

Buenos Aires proved to be an off day for us; we made too many mistakes and paid the price with poor results. We didn't make the most of our pace in qualifying but came away with the fastest lap. This weekend, we'll strive to do our best and hopefully we’ll be on the podium or even the top step!